'Mile Home' goes the distance to recount Boston bombing

5:16 AM,
Apr. 1, 2014

'Long Mile Home' by Scott Helman and Jenna Russell
Dutton

Written by

Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

On the first-year anniversary of a national tragedy, it's inevitable for the so-called definitive account to be rolled out by publishers calculating that enough time has passed for an author to have developed perspective, but not so much time that the calamity is no longer fresh in the public's conscience.

Publishing houses are, more often than not, wrong. Too often, readers, including this one, feel burned by investing time and cash in what too frequently reads like notebook dumps by journalists on the front line of a big story. The works ultimately don't stand the test of time.